Phil Collins
Philip David Charles Collins (born January 30, 1951) is a British singer, songwriter, drummer, and actor who appeared in the show Miami Vice as Phil Mayhew, a long-time con man who brings his cons to the United States, and performs the song "Life is a Rat Race" in the episode "Phil The Shill". He also performed the songs "In The Air Tonight" (in "Brother's Keeper", "I Don't Care Anymore" (in "No Exit"), "Take Me Home" in ("The Prodigal Son"), "Long, Long Way To Go" (in "Sons and Lovers"), and "Land of Confusion" with Genesis in "Freefall". Career Collins was born in Chiswick, London, England. He began playing the drums at age five when he received a toy drum set for Christmas. He also learned acting at the Barbara Speake Stage School, performing in the play Oliver!. He appeared in the Beatles' movie A Hard Day's Night and had a role in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang that was edited out. He began his music career with the group Flaming Youth in 1969, releasing an album that did poorly and the group broke up a year later. Collins played percussion on George Harrison's song "The Art of Dying" after the breakup. Genesis Collins then auditioned for a drummer opening in another band, Genesis, which he won. Peter Gabriel was the lead vocalist in Genesis at that time so Collins primarily sang backup (except on the songs "For Absent Friends" and "More Fool Me") for the first five years he was in the band. After Gabriel left Genesis in 1975 for a solo career, Collins became lead singer, and the band began having success in America, reaching the Top 40 with "Misunderstanding" in 1980. Genesis had now become a trio after Steve Hackett left for a solo career, with Collins on drums and vocals, Tony Banks on keyboards, and Mike Rutherford on guitar and bass. Genesis' album success continued with Abacab (featuring the horn section of the R&B band Earth, Wind & Fire) and more Top 40 success, with "No Reply At All", "Abacab", and "Man on the Corner", followed by their eponymous album in 1983, featuring the hits "Mama", "That's All" (Genesis' first Top 10 hit), and "Taking It All Too Hard". They then released Land of Confusion in 1986, with the title track reaching the Top 10, and "Invisible Touch" reaching #1. Genesis' last album with Collins was 1991's "We Can't Dance", featuring their last Top 40 single, "I Can't Dance". Collins left Genesis in 1996 to focus on his solo career, but the band reunited for a tour in 2007. Solo Career Collins recorded his first solo album, Face Value, in 1981, with many of the songs focusing on Collins' divorce from Andrea Bertorelli and the pain he suffered from it. The album had two Billboard Top 40 singles, "I Missed Again" and "In The Air Tonight". In 1982 he produced former Abba singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad (Frida)'s first solo album Something's Going On, and played drums on her hit single "I Know There's Something Going On", a song written by Russ Ballard. Collins then recorded his second solo album, Hello, I Must Be Going, which spawned two more hit singles, "I Don't Care Anymore" and his first Top 10 single, a remake of the Supremes' classic "You Can't Hurry Love". His sounds changed from dark to upbeat on this album, he was then approached to perform the theme to the movie Against All Odds, which became his first Billboard #1 song, and began a streak of 14 consecutive Top 10 solo singles in the 1980's and early 1990's. He then produced Earth, Wind & Fire singer Philip Bailey's first solo album Chinese Wall and their duet "Easy Lover" reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. After appearing in the Band Aid charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas", Collins released his third solo album, No Jacket Required, in 1985, and that produced four Top 10 singles, the #1s "One More Night" & "Sussudio", and the Top 10s "Take Me Home" and "Don't Lose My Number", as well as "Long, Long Way To Go". He then teamed up with Marilyn Martin for the #1 theme from White Nights, "Separate Lives". Collins also performed at Live Aid, first at London's Wembley Stadium, then took the Concorde for his appearance in Philadelphia's JFK Stadium. Artists Howard Jones, Robert Plant, Eric Clapton, & Tina Turner recruited Collins to play drums on some of their songs. In 1988 Collins appeared in the movie Buster, which he sang a remake of the Mindbenders' classic "Groovy Kind of Love" and "Two Hearts", both of which reached #1. In 1989 Collins recorded his fourth solo album, ...But Seriously, which included his final #1 (both of his solo career and of the 1980's), Another Day In Paradise, his commentary on homelessness, as well as the Top 10's "I Wish It Would Rain Down", "Do You Remember", and "Something Happened On The Way to Heaven", which was his final Top 10 single. In the 1990's Collins would collaborate with other artists and release solo albums, but was unable to recapture his 1980's successes. Collins, having won numerous Grammys for his solo work in the 1980's, added an Oscar win for Best Song with "You'll Be In My Heart" from the animated Disney movie Tarzan. Collins is one of only two (Sir Paul McCartney is the other) artists to have sold over 100 million albums both as a solo act and as the principal member of a group (Genesis). Acting Career Besides his roles in Vice and Buster, Collins also appeared in the movies Hook (with Julia Roberts), Frauds, and as a voice actor in The Jungle Book 2. His music has appeared in dozens of movies and TV shows, and a remake of "In The Air Tonight" appeared in the movie version of Miami Vice, and the original version appeared (as was Collins) in the Miami Vice-inspired video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. Personal Life Collins has been married three times, first to Canadian Andrea Bertorelli, from 1975 until their divorce in 1980, after she began an affair with their painter & decorator. They had one son, Simon (born 1976), and he adopted Bertorelli's daughter Joely (born 1972), now a Canadian actress, who appeared in the series Cold Squad. Collins has a granddaughter from Joely. After their divorce, Collins met Jill Taverman, whom he married in 1984, and had a daughter, Lily Collins (born 1989, who appeared in 2009's The Blind Side), before their divorce in 1996, for which Collins paid out £17M as final settlement of the divorce. Collins then married Orianne Cevey in 1999, and they have two sons, Nicholas and Matthew. They divorced in 2007, and paid out another settlement sum of £25M. In 2009 he announced that due to a spinal injury sustained during Genesis' 2007 tour and subsequent surgery, he is currently unable to play either drums or piano. Category:Miami Vice Guest Stars Category:Rock Stars On Miami Vice